TEXT: Mark 9:14-29
SUBJECT: Meeting the Lord #9: The Possessed Boy
The Story
The story begins with the Apostles and the scribes engaged in a public debate. What are they arguing about? The authority to cast out demons. Should unordained men do this work? The disciples were doing it, but the scribes said they shouldn't be. Who's right? The story doesn't say, but it does say who's winning the argument. The scribes are winning. Big!
Why? A boy has been brought to them, possessed by an evil spirit, and they can't do a thing for him. It has taken away the boy's speech and hearing; it makes him gnash his teeth, foam at the mouth, and become stiff as a board. It's even tried to kill the poor child, throwing him into water and fire.
The disciples are helpless before this stubborn and malignant spirit. Satan has the victory.
Till Jesus Christ enters the fray. With Peter, James, and John, He has just left the glory of the Transfiguration. But the moment can't last. Back to work!
What's going on? The boy's father explains. "Bring him to Me". In the Divine Presence, Satan seizes the boy with great violence. He falls to the ground, wallows, and foams at the mouth.
Horrified at the sight, the father blurts out: "If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us!"
Our Lord is a generous Man, of course, but He can't let that one go: "If I can do anything?" The question is not "If I can do anything", but "If you can believe!" "Can you?"
You have to admire the man's honesty! "All things are possible to him who believes". "Do you believe?" "Uh, well, sort of!"
"Lord--he cried out with tears--"I believe; help my unbelief".
That's what the Lord was looking for! He casts the devil out of the boy, lifts him to his feet, and sends father and son home rejoicing with
"A joy unspeakable
And full of glory".
But the story's not over. After the people have gone home, the disciples ask about their failure; why couldn't they cast out the demon?
He told them: "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting".
That's the story.
The Meaning
Now, what does it mean? Three secondary issues come to mind. I'll mention them in passing, and then develop the main theme.
Note firstly: The mission of Jesus Christ is to "destroy the works of the devil". Satan has tortured the child his whole life! But the Lord kicks him out life and frees the boy from his evil designs. What He did in the boy, He's still doing: "Binding the strong man and plundering his goods". Satan is a defeated foe!
Number two: The believer's power to do good depends entirely on his fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. Why couldn't the disciples help the poor boy? Because they had drifted away from God. How do we know that? Because they were no longer devoted to prayer. Why not? Because they no longer felt the deep need for God's blessing. In the last few years, these men had done amazing things! In the name of Jesus Christ, they had "prophesied, cast out devils, and done many wonderful works". These great things had "gone to their head"--"Lord, even the devils are subject to us in Your name". Like Samson, they had forgotten their power wasn't theirs at all--but God's through Jesus Christ.
The events of that day were an embarrassing reminder: "Without Me, you can do nothing". What was true of the Apostles is no less true of us.
"Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing"
Thirdly observe: The big value of little faith. When I was a young man, a read a book by Arthur Pink called Saving Faith. When I put it down I was convinced of two things: I wasn't saved and neither was anyone else! His goal was to rebut "easy believism"--and that's good. What's not so good is: He replaced it with "impossible believism". By his way of thinking, unless your faith is nearly perfect, it gets nothing from God.
But look at the man in today's story! Has there ever been a weaker faith than his? "Lord, I believe...help my unbelief!" Yet he gets what he needs from Jesus Christ.
Do you know why? Because the blessings are not in our faith, but in our Savior. God is worthy of a gargantuan faith, but He'll accept faith as tiny as a mustard seed.
How we ought to love Him for this! How we ought to bring our little faith to Him. Who knows? The One who turned a boy's lunch into a feast for thousands, may use our little faith to do big things!
These are important issues, to be sure, but not Mark's "big idea". What is it? V.29 explains: "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting".
What do "prayer and fasting" indicate? Assuming they're not "put on" for the benefit of men, they imply a dependence on God. The disciples didn't feel this, but our Lord did.
So....What does this tell us? It tells us: "How low Jesus Christ stooped to redeem sinners".
"Dependent" is not a word you associate with God. "Infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, and truth". These are words befitting the
"Almighty Maker of
Heaven and Earth".
But "dependent?" God in need of help? God praying for help? God fasting for help? Yes! Why? Because, for our salvation, God joined the human race in its weakness, in its weariness, and in its dependence on the aid of heaven.
These words foreshadow His hours in Gethsemane. There, He prayed with such fervor that God came to His rescue by sending an angel. Angels are "ministering spirits". We feel our need of them! But His need? Yes. He needed their help as much as we do.
Our weakness, of course, is involuntary. But His was chosen. Why? Chiefly, to save us from our sins. And then, to set an example for us to follow.
How grateful we ought to be to Christ. In every prayer, we thank Him for dying on the cross. That was the low-point of His humiliation--but not the whole thing! How we ought to meditate on these things.
Think about it: God Himself placed in a poor girl's womb. Born to a low-class family. Threatened by evil king. Fled to Egypt. Grew up in a tacky hometown. Chided by parents who had no idea what He was up to. Scorned by brothers and sisters. Despised by the people. Hated by the Rabbis. Murdered by the Rulers. Buried in a borrowed grave. How low He went.
"For you know the grace of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though
He was rich, yet for our sakes
He became poor; that we, through
His poverty might be made rich".
The Pagans (old and new) got it backwards. It is not man reaching up to God. That's the Tower of Babel! It is God reaching down to man. That's the Incarnation of Christ.
What words can return thanks? Words are inadequate. Better give Him the "sacrifice He never despised--A broken and contrite heart".
His stooping so low also provides a model for our serving of others. How do we help people in need? Paul knows: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus". What "mind" is that? Not the mind of wisdom or power, but the mind of humility. The mind that isn't motivated by "Selfish ambition and conceit", but the mind that "Esteems others better than yourself".
This is the challenge His life sets for us. It's much harder than casting out that stubborn spirit. Let's be much in prayer for it. God give us the grace to succeed. For Christ's sake. Amen.